Automatic break-off mechanism



March 16, 1937. H, E, PIERCE 2,074,237

AUTOMATIC BREAK-OFF MECHANISM Filed May l1, 1935 220 V- LINE Lug/l:

@f7/m f j @i Painted Mu. 16, 1937 PATENT/OFFICE AUTOMATIC BREAK-GFF MECHANISM mmm a. riem, mmm, wis., assignmto Marathon Paper Mills Company, Rothschild. Wis., a corporation oi Wisconsin Application May 11, 1935, Serial No. 20,995

Claims. (Cl. 914-14) Die mechanism of the present invention is designed as an emergency appliance for use on machina or devices which operate to feed forward a web of paper during the treatment of the pa- 5 per, as for instance in a waxing operation, altbm the emergency device hereinafter described may be used on machines designed for other types of treatment.

In operations oi this character itis customary to draw forward the paper web from a delivery Y roll under the tendon of a winding roll or rolls and at a comparatively rapid rate in order to carry the paper through the waxing bath or other l instrumentality whereby the paper is treated, l5 and in the circumstances it sometimes happens that the paper web will suddenly break in adrance of the delivery roll, with the result that a very considerable amount of paper will be fed forward from the delivery roll, due to its ac- 2o quired mommtum, which results in waste of pa- Der. los of time, and diiiiculty in removing the piled up paper web which becomes lodged within the mchine. A

In the present embodiment of the invention, the emergency appliances are illustrated in connectim with waxing mechanism which includes a waxing bath within which the advancing paper web is a chilling bath within which the wax coating is chilled; and vacuum pipes which serve to runove the water adhering to the waxed paper surface prior to its delivery to the winding roll.

In apparatus of this character, the emergency appliame of the present invention is so mounted and operated that a release in the tension of the paper web due to breakage will serve to actuate a breaker arm which strikes upon the paper web immediately in advance of the delivery roll, thereby instantly breaking the paper web and' concimently setting brake mechanism upon the delivery roll, which stops its rotation and prevents any further delivery of paper, thereby restricting the waste occasioned by the break to a minimum and permitting the paper web to be immediately repositioned within the machine without substantial loss of time or interruption in the operation of the machine.

Further objects and details will appear from a of the invention, in conjunction with the drawing, wherein,-

lllgure 1 is a tic view ofthe present invention as applied to a waxing machine or aparatos Y5i RQia'anenlai-gedviewoftheactuatingdevice responsive to the release of tension in the paper web due to breakage;

Fig. 3 is a detail of the lever arm for disabling the operation of the mechanism of Fig. 2, taken on line 3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a detail of the breaker arm for the paper web; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail of the latch mechanism for releasing the breaker arm.

As shown, the emergency mechanism of the present invention is applied to a waxing machine through which the paper-web I0 is fed from a delivery roll Il mounted upon a shaft I2. The paper web passes over an idler roll I3 and thence down under an idler roll I4 within a tank I5 containing a bath of wax I6. The paper web emerges from the wax bath and passes between rollers I'I and I8, and thence over a roll I9, and thence vertically between rollers 20-20- and under rolls 2I--22 within the chilling tank 23 containing a body of cold water 24, which chills and hardens the wax on the surface of the paper.

From the chilling tank the waxed paper web passes upwardly between a-lower group of vacuum pipes 25 which exert a suction on the rear side of the paper, and a similar upper group of suction pipes 26 which exert suction upon the forward side of the paper for the purpose of removing any drops of water adhering to the surface. 'I'he paper web then passes over the roll 21 and thenceforwardly through a group of cooling cylinders 28 to the winding roll 29 mounted upon a core 30.

The cylinders 28 and the core 30 are power driven, so that the paper web behindv4 the idler roll 21 is advanced entirely by tension at the forward end of the paper web, and in these cir-- cumstances it sometimes happens that a sudden break in the paper web will occur, partlcularli7 in the vicinity of the vacuum pipes 25 and 26.

The emergency mechanism of the present invention, as applied to a waxing machine of the character above described, or other similar machine which draws forward the paper web under like conditions, comprises a small contact roll 3| which is journalled upon a stub shaft 32 provided with ball bearings 33 to permit free rotation of the contact roll.

The shaft 32 is mounted at the forward end of a lever 34 journalled upon a fulcrum 35 carried by a bracket 36 suitably positioned to per- 4mit the contact roll 3| to engage the surface of thepaper web when the latter is moving vertically and under the tension exerted thereon during thernormal Voperation of the machine.

With the roll Il thus in contactwlth the tensioned web the roll willbeheldinthedepressedposition shown in full lines in ll'lg. 2, but in the event of a breakage the contact roll will swing up into 5 the elevated position shown in dotted lines under the influence of an adjustable counterwelght 3l mounted upon an L-shaped arm 3l secured to the rear end of the lever 34. It will thus be observed that the contact roll 3l is constantly held out of balance by contact with the tensioned paper web and is free to assume its normal balance only when the tension is relieved as a result of a break in the paper web. v

The lever 34 is provided at its rear end with a mercury switch 3S which is normally held in a forwardly inclined position such that the mercury within the switch will close a circuit through the wires 40 which supply current to the motor (not shown) which drives the winding roll 29. In the event of a bre, the mercury switch will be thrown into the rearwardly inclined position indicated in dotted lines and will close a circuit through the wires 4I, which circuit includes a solenoid 42 located near the delivery end of the apparatus.

'I'he solenoid is provided with a core 43 which is pivoted to a latch lever 44 provided in its forward end with a notch'45 which normally engages a -pin 46 on a breaker arm 4l pivoted near its lower end upon a pivot 48 carriedby a standard 49. The notch may be on the under side of the latch lever 44 as indicated in Fig. 4, in which case the ful'crum 50 for the latch lever will be located at the farther lend of the lever. Fig: 5

shows a modification in which the notch 45"l is on the upper side and the fulcrum 5l)n is located at an intermediate position, but in other respects the operation is precisely the same in the two cases.

'I'he breaker arm 41 normally stands in the oblique position shown and with its forward' or acting edge adjacent to the edge of the paper web, so that in the event the breaker arm is released it will fall forward by gravity and strike across the edge of the paper web, thereby initiating a break or tear which immediately extends across the entire paper web. If desired, the breaker arm may be provided at its free upper end with an extension 5| which permits the length of the arm to be extended in cases where a comparatively narrow paper web is being fed.

The lower end of the breaker arm below the pivot 48 occupies a pomtion immediately adjacent to the lower end of a trip finger 52 which is 55 mounted upon a pivot 5I and is normally held with its upper end in outwardly projecting position through the tension of a coil spring 54. With the trip nger thus positioned, its upper end will lie beneath a heavy brake arm 55 pivoted at its rear end upon a pivot 55 carried vby a standard 51. 'Ihe brake arm has pivoted thereto a link 58 which in turn connects to the outer end of a brake lever 59 plvoted at 60 to a draw bolt 6| provided with an adjusting nut 52. The draw bolt passes through the freeends of brake band elements 53-63 which are hinged together at 64 and embrace a brake drum 65 on the shaft I2 which can'ies the delivery roll. The brake lever 59 is so mounted that its lower end 56 consti- 70 to cam against the associated brake band element and exert tension on the draw bolt 8| which sets the brake upon the d rum. thereby stopping rotation. Y 75 In order to temporarily disable the operation oi' tutes a foot adapted, when the lever is depressed,

the contact roll 3| while-the paper web is being rethreaded, the arm 5l is provided. which is pivoted at 68 and adapted to have its rear end held in elevated relation by the engagement of a latch finger 69 pivoted near the forward or outer end of the arm 61. When the forward end of thearm is held down by the latch, the rear end of the lever 34 will be held elevated, and the contact roll 3l will be held depressed until the paper is rethreaded and contact of the roller 3| against the paper is thus reestablished.

Operation In operation, in the event of breakage, the paper web will be immediately relieved from tension, with the result that the arm 34 which carries the contact roller 3l will swing upwardly, thereby breaking the circuit which operates the motor for drawing forward the paper web and simultaneously closing the circuit which actuates the solenoid d2.

The energizing of the solenoid serves to draw the core arm 43 upwardly, thereby actuating the lever 4A. In the form shown in Fig. 4, this will result in lifting the notched outer end of the latch lever 44 from the pin 4S which releases the breaker arm 4l. In the construction of Fig. 5, a like result will follow the lifting of the rear end of the latch lever. In either event, the'breaker arm will fall forwardly across the edge of the paper web, thereby starting a tear which immediately traverses the width of the paper web, and at the same instant the falling of the breaker arm will kick out the trip nger 52, allowing the brake arm to fall by gravity, which in turn draws down the end of the brake lever 59, thereby setting the brake and instantly stopping the rotation of the delivery roll. In such event the only waste will be the short length of paper web between the point where the initial break `occured and the point of severence occasioned by the falling of the breaker arm, which small amount of paper can be quickly removed without diiliculty and without jamming the machinery, and the paper rethreaded through the machine.

The rethreading operation requires that the contact roll 3l be temporarily held in the .depresed position by extraneous means until the paper web is adjusted to afford a contact for the roll. In these circumstances, the outer end of the arm 6l is drawn down and temporarily latched by the latch finger 69 which elevates the inner end of the arm and lifts the rear end of the lever 34, thereby maintaining the parts in proper relation until the paper web has ben rethreaded, after which the latch finger 69 is released and depression of the forward end of the lever 34 is acquires momentum dining the delivery of the paper web and which must be quickly stopped in the event of breakage in order to prevent overrunning and wasting of the paper whenthe normal tensioning required in the forward feeding of the paper is interrupted.

Although the contact roll 3| is shown as operating upon a vertical run of the paper web, and is so mounted as to operate by gravity when relieved from the normal contact with the tensioned paper web, it will be understood that the contact roll may be otherwise mounted to act upon a horizontal or oblique run of the paper web, with proper adjustment to insure displacement from its 'normal position when the tensioning of the paper web is disturbed by breakage, and that it is not the intention in the claims, unless otherwise indicated, to limit the device to one in which the contact tension is necessarily maintained by gravity, but on the contrary it is the intention to cover other variations in which an element responsive to abnormalities in the tensioning of the `paper web will actuate mechanism for effecting a break in the paper web, and the setting of brakes on the delivery roll to prevent excess paper feeding after a break in the paper web has occurred.

I claim: 1. An apparatus for continuously treating web material comprising a delivery roll for supporting a roll of web material to be treated, braking mechanism on the delivery roll, a receptacle containing a treating substance through which said web is continuously passed, severing means positioned intermediate the said delivery roll and said receptacle for severing said web, means for drawing forward said web under tension, an emergency contact member responsive to abnormalities in the tensioning o! said web due to accidental breakage of said web and movable from normal position when said breakage occurs, means responsive to actuation of said contact member for actuating said severing means and means actuated by movement of said severing means for substantially simultaneously effecting actuation of the braking mechanism for stopping rotation of said delivery roll, to prevent excess feeding of said web material into said receptacle.

2. An apparatus for continuously treating web material comprising a delivery roll for supporting a roll of web material to be treated, braking f mechanism on the delivery roll, a receptacle containing a treating substance through which Said web is continuously passed, severing means positioned intermediate the said delivery roll and said receptacle for severing said web, means for drawing forward said web under tension, a contact member mounted for movement and adapted to be held in normal position when under contact with a normally tensioned web and adapted to 5o move to abnormal position upon release of tension due to breakage of the web, severing means adapted when released to strike across the edge of the web, means for normally restraining the movement of the severing means, releasing mechanism for the severing means, means electrically controlled by an abnormal movement of the contact member for actuating the releasing mechanism, a brake on the delivery roll, and means actuated by the movement of the severing means a0 for setting the brake to prevent excess feeding of lsaid web material from the delivery roll into said receptacle.

3. An apparatus for continuously treating web material comprising a delivery roll for support- 55 ing a roll of web material to be treated, braking mechanism on the delivery roll, a receptacle containing a treating substance through which said web is continuously passed, means positioned intermediate the said delivery roll and said receptacle for severing said web, means for drawing forward said web under tension, a contact member mounted for movement and adapted to be held in normal position when under contact with a normally tensioned web and adapted to move to abnormal position upon release of tension due to breakage of the web, severing means adapted when released to strike across the edge of the web, means for normally restraining the movement of the severing means, releasing mechanism for the severing means, means electrically controlled by an abnormal movement of the contact member for actuating the releasing mechanism, a brake band on the delivery roll, means for setting the brake band,'and trip mechanism adapted to normally hold the brake setting means in released position and adapted to be tripped by actuation of the severing means to release the brake setting means to set the brake so as to prevent excess feeding of said web material from the delivery roll into said receptacle.

4. An apparatus for continuously treating web material comprising a delivery roll for supporting a roll of web material to be treated, braking mechanism on the delivery roll, a receptacle containing a treating substance through which said web is continuously passed, mechanism positioned intermediate the said delivery roll and said receptacle for severing said web, means for drawing forward said web under tension, a contact roll mounted for movement and adapted to be maintained in normal position by contact with a normally tensioned web and adapted when the tension is released by breakage to move to abnormal position, an electric circuit mechanism including a solenoid adapted to be energized by abnormal movement of the contact roll, a breaker arm normally standing in proximate relation to the paper web and adapted upon release to strike across the edge of the web to tear same, releasing mechanism normally engaging the breaker arm and adapted to hold the same out of contact with the web, said releasing mechanism being actuated by the energizing of the solenoid to release the breaker arm, and means actuated by the release of the breaker arm to set the brake mechanism to prevent excess delivery of said web material into said' receptacle.

5. An apparatus for continuously treating web material comprising a delivery roll for supporting a roll of web material to be treated, braking mechanism on the delivery roll, a receptacle containing a treating substance through which said web is continuously passed, severing means positioned intermediate the said delivery roll and said receptacle for severing said web, means for drawing forward said web'under tension, an emergency contact member responsive to abnormalities in the tensioning of said web due to accidental breakage of said web and movable from normal position when said breakage occurs, means responsive to movement of said contact member from said normal position for actuating said severing means and means for substantially simultaneously effecting actuation of the braking mechanism for stopping rotation of said delivery roll to prevent excess feeding of said web material into said receptacle.

f HAROLD E. PIERCE. 

